"For Your Entertainment" is the debut mainstream single by American recording artist and ''
American Idol''
season eight runner-up
Adam Lambert.
It is also the title track to his debut studio album, ''
For Your Entertainment''. The song was released commercially on November 3, 2009, and was written by
Claude Kelly and
Dr. Luke. It was a top 10 hit in Finland, Japan, New Zealand and the US dance club chart.
Lambert's performance of the song at the 2009
American Music Awards prompted complaints from the
Parents Television Council and
ABC
ABC are the first three letters of the Latin script known as the alphabet.
ABC or abc may also refer to:
Arts, entertainment, and media Broadcasting
* American Broadcasting Company, a commercial U.S. TV broadcaster
** Disney–ABC Television ...
canceled Lambert's scheduled performance on ''
Good Morning America
''Good Morning America'' (often abbreviated as ''GMA'') is an American morning television program that is broadcast on ABC. It debuted on November 3, 1975, and first expanded to weekends with the debut of a Sunday edition on January 3, 1993. Th ...
.'' A remixed version of the song was added to the set list of Lambert's first concert tour, the 2010 ''
Glam Nation Tour'' as the show's opening. The actual song was only performed on the Asian and Australian legs of the tour right after the song "Voodoo".
Background
On October 28, 2009, Lambert announced via
Twitter that his lead single from his debut album would be "For Your Entertainment", a song that was produced by
Dr. Luke. The following day, Lambert announced that the single would debut on Ryan Seacrest's radio show on October 30, 2009.
The song became available as a legal download in the
United States on November 3, 2009, and on November 15, 2009, in the
United Kingdom.
Critical reception
The song was well received by music critics. ''
The Huffington Post'' noted that this song is a "full-display" of album that "operates from a disco/glam aesthetic of escapism and liberation via dance, dress-up, and desire" and added that it "fully accomplish what the singer had in mind for the album: songs that make you want to let loose, dance, work out, have fun." Allmusic called this song "cool" and "strutting" and marked it as one of highlights of album. Entertainment Weekly opined that "peacocking title track" "follows duly fulfills its pledge (Entertained? Synth-ertained!)". Detroit News called this song "pulsating" and praised the vocals "
inger issomehow cramming every musical note into one banshee wail."
''Chicago Tribune'' wrote that song "promises to get rough with you". ''Boston'' editor Sarah Rodman noted that this "less-than-compelling wink-wink, Britney-evoking throb-pop" track doesn't have enough time to adjust itself from opening track. ''Rolling Stone'' wasn't very positive by calling it "less successful" and comparing it: "similar to Sam Sparro's "
Black and Gold" that 19 Entertainment should probably keep a strong legal team on retainer."
Music video
The music video premiered on Lambert's official website on November 24, 2009. It was directed by
Ray Kay. The video was filmed in a one-day shoot, on November 15 at The Alexandria, an old hotel which is now an apartment building in downtown Los Angeles.
The video opens with a nighttime street level shot in a city. As the camera pans down below the ground, Lambert is shown walking into an underground club, filled with scantily clad men and women. As he begins singing, he walks through the crowd and interacts and dances with others. Mixed with dancing are close up shots of Lambert and various dancers. Towards the end of the song, Lambert begins to play with his band and the video shows everyone in the club dancing. As the song ends, the camera pans back up to the street level where life is continuing on, completely oblivious of what is going on below the streets.
Performances
"For Your Entertainment" made its live debut at the
American Music Awards on November 22, 2009, at the
Nokia Theatre in
Los Angeles,
California, which aired on ABC. The performance caused controversy due to Lambert acting too provocative on stage by aggressively grinding on his male dancers and making out with his keyboardist. The
Parents Television Council slammed the performance as being sexualized, and urged viewers to complain to the FCC if living in an area where the performance was shown before 10 p.m. local time. However, Lambert's performance reportedly was broadcast around 11 p.m. Eastern and Pacific time, "outside the FCC's usual 6am-10pm time frame". The performance drew 1,500 complaints to ABC, many of which probably came from the PTC. As a result, ABC announced that Lambert would not be performing on ''
Good Morning America
''Good Morning America'' (often abbreviated as ''GMA'') is an American morning television program that is broadcast on ABC. It debuted on November 3, 1975, and first expanded to weekends with the debut of a Sunday edition on January 3, 1993. Th ...
'' on November 25 as planned. CBS subsequently invited Lambert to perform instead on ''
The Early Show'' on the same date in New York City.
Lambert told ''Rolling Stone'' magazine, "Female performers have been doing this for years — pushing the envelope about sexuality — and the minute a man does it, everybody freaks out. We're in 2009 — it's time to take risks, be a little more brave, time to open people's eyes and if it offends them, then maybe I'm not for them. My goal was not to piss people off, it was to promote freedom of expression and artistic freedom."
Lambert then went on a series of promotional interviews and performances to address the controversy, clear up rumors, discuss his rapid rise to fame, and promote the album. He was interviewed on ''
The Ellen DeGeneres Show'', ''
The View'', and ''
The Oprah Winfrey Show''. Lambert has performed the song during ''We Are Glamily Tour'' and ''
The Original High Tour
The Original High Tour was the third solo (sixth overall) concert tour by American singer/songwriter Adam Lambert, launched in support of his third studio album, '' The Original High''. The tour began on December 31, 2015 in Singapore and contin ...
''.
Chart performance
"For Your Entertainment" debuted at number 84 on the U.S. ''Billboard'' Hot 100 for the chart week of November 28, 2009. That same week, the song also debuted at number 33 on the
Canadian Hot 100
The Canadian Hot 100 is a music industry record chart in Canada for songs, published weekly by '' Billboard'' magazine. The Canadian Hot 100 was launched on the issue dated March 31, 2007, and is currently the standard record chart in Canada; a n ...
. In March, the song was also featured as a VIP Track on the UK's
4Music
4Music is a British music television channel owned and operated by Channel Four Television Corporation. The original incarnation was launched on 15 August 2008, and until 29 June 2022, showed a mix of music and entertainment programming. It ...
, prior to the album's upcoming release the end of April. To date, the song has been the most successful in
Canada and
New Zealand, where it achieved Platinum and Gold status respectively (see below). The song has sold approximately 333,000 digital downloads.
"For Your Entertainment" entered the
UK Singles Chart on May 2, 2010, at number 39. In its second week in the chart, the single remained at number 39; in its third week, it climbed two more places to its peak, number 37.
Use in popular culture
Starting December 22,
Fox
Foxes are small to medium-sized, omnivorous mammals belonging to several genera of the family Canidae. They have a flattened skull, upright, triangular ears, a pointed, slightly upturned snout, and a long bushy tail (or ''brush'').
Twelve sp ...
began using "For Your Entertainment" as the official song highlighting their January television show line-up. ''E! Network'' in February 2010 aired a commercial promoting their television line-up with a remix of "For Your Entertainment".
It was also featured in an advertisement for ''4music'' in the United Kingdom in 2010.
In addition, the BBC used it in a montage of the 'best and worst of the
crucible 2010'.
Track listing
;Digital download
#"For Your Entertainment" – 3:35
;Remixes (Part of ''
Remixes'' album)
* "For Your Entertainment" (Bimbo Jones Vocal Mix) - 6:29
* "For Your Entertainment" (
Brad Walsh
Brad Walsh (born June 15, 1982) is an American singer and record producer known for his own pop and experimental music, as well as his dance remixes of pop artists including Britney Spears, Adam Lambert, and Lady Gaga.
Career
Walsh has rel ...
Remix) - 4:56
Charts
Weekly charts
Year-end charts
Certifications
Release history
References
{{authority control
2009 singles
Adam Lambert songs
Music videos directed by Ray Kay
Songs written by Dr. Luke
Song recordings produced by Dr. Luke
2009 songs
Songs written by Claude Kelly
RCA Records singles
Television controversies in the United States
LGBT-related controversies in music
Obscenity controversies in music
fr:For Your Entertainment